Catalina and the 31

Chapter Five- New Friends and New Enemies

"Oh," Catalina said, feeling naive. "I didn't realize."

"Yep," he said. "It's just part of the job." There was an awkward pause for a moment, then Mr. Hershel finally broke the silence. "Okay, so you'll just continue to the main building, it's directly in front of us, just walk forward to arrive there. Orientation isn't in the courtyard, which you enter by walking through the passage. It's in the cafeteria, which is doubling as an auditorium today, because the outdoors auditorium isn't built yet. You walk into the courtyard, then enter the building through a set of white doors."

Catalina nodded. "Okay, thanks." After a moments pause, she went up and hugged the pilot. "Thanks for everything," she said.

Mr. Hershel let out a hearty laugh. "No problem. And I promise that if I'm ever in the area, I'll drop by to say hi."

Catalina smiled. "That'd be great!"

"Now, don't be late!" Mr. Hershel said.

Catalina hurried, almost running, to the main building using the directions that Mr. Hershel had given her. The building that had loomed in the distance grew larger and larger. Once she arrived she looked up, amazed. The building was not the tallest, only four stories, but designed in a way that maximized the space, but at the same time seemed open. Speaking of open, there was the passageway Mr. Hershel had mentioned. It was completely open, you could look up and see the sky, but on the sides were windows into the building. She hurried through, wanting to look closer, but hoping not to be late.

tSoon she arrived at a large set of double doors, painted with a newly added coat of white paint. There were no handles on the doors - instead there was what Catalina assumed to be a retina and fingerprint scanner.

Catalina walked up to it uncertainly. She'd heard about the security only through Mr. Hershel. She had to go on her tiptoes for her eye to reach the scanner's screen. A laser shone from the screen, passing over her eye. Soon the screen of the scanner blinked green. Next, she decided to put her thumb on this black pad to the side of the screen. Once again, a line of light passed under her thumb, then the black screen blinked green. The doors opened themselves quietly, but quickly.

As soon as the doors opened, she realized why Mr. Hershel had insisted on her not being late. About 100 curious faces turned toward her. A woman was standing on the large stage in front of them, speaking with a voice amplifier so Catalina could hear her well despite the distance between them.

The woman paused in the middle of her sentence. "My, my, what do we have here?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice. It sounded fake, as if it wasn't what her voice usually sounded like.

Catalina turned red in the face. She always did, whenever she was the center of attention, nervous, or embarrassed. Right then she felt all three at the same time.

"What's your name, miss?" the woman asked her in her fake voice. "You might as well introduce yourself to everyone."

"Umm, C-C-Cata-lin-na" she said nervously.

"Hmm, well, C-C-Cata-lin-na, would you mind explaining to these students here exactly why you have arrived late to orientation?"

Suddenly, something in Catalina snapped. She was sick of being the poor immigrant girl who stuttered every time she had to speak in front of people. She deserved here place as much as anyone else. Plus, the woman on the stage was being terribly mean to her, for no good reason!

"Yes, actually," she said. "I would mind."

"Excuse me?" asked the woman, as if Catalina had said something incoherent.